Coined in 1845 by journalist John L. O'sullivan the term Manifest Destiny outlined the idea that it was America's God given right to spread to the western territory bought in the Louisiana Purchase and beyond. Already swept up in the excitement of expansion, the people of America took up the term quickly, using it as yet another incentive to populate new lands in pursuit of riches. Manifest Destiny was used often to give reason to the nation’s imperialistic activities of conquering the west, including its justification for the war against Mexico in 1845- 1848. (Acuna 222, 226). America's desire for economic power and military prowess, as well as her wish to keep up with ever-expanding technology pushed her people west, with O'sullivan's Manifest …show more content…
Destiny to guide her. Advances in technology during the mid-nineteenth century launched America into an era of industrial competition on the world stage. Under the guise of the God given rights and romantic democratic ideals spoken of in O’sullivan’s Manisfest Destiny, the people of America marched westward in one of the most violent migrations since colonial times in search of wealth and power. (Hietala 476-477). In 1803 the United States nearly doubled in size after Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana, previously held by the French, opening up a new region to American settlers. Expansion westward had been previously halted due to America's lack of control over the Mississippi River, which served as a major shipping route that would allow frontier men to survive and turn a profit in the west. Their desires for prosperity as well as the opportunity for new land could not have come at a better time, since during the mid-1800's the world was experiencing a miniature industrial period that would give rise to devices that could further their profits. Inventions such as Eli Whitney's Cotton gin combined with the expansion of canal and railroad building lead not only to an increase in regional trade, but a desire for wealth America had not felt in a long time. The market economy was born and along with it a dramatic increase in trade, slavery, and expansion. (Foote 244-245). John O'sullivan argued "Nor is there any just foundation for the charge that Annexation is a great pro-slavery measure-calculated to increase and perpetuate that institution. Slavery had nothing to do with it." (O'sullivan, Celebrates 454) in 1854 after the annexation of Texas, a territory that was taken in order to increase farming lands for cotton in the south as plantation owners pushed into the new territory. Despite the ideals of democracy that arose with the term Manifest destiny it is made evident through the migration groups, as well as the economic gain brought through the imperialistic conquering of the western lands and the war with Mexico brought, that the real purpose of the expansion was monetary gain. (Acuna 225-226). The ideas of Manifest Destiny had been around for years before the term was put into use, however the religious revival triggered by the Second Great Awakening gave pioneers an increased motivation.
For years the people of America had used economic gain as a reason to push west into territory that was both uncharted and fought over. (Acuna 255-256). However the religious revival, as well as O'sullivan's term, Manifest destiny breathed new purpose into the march westward. God himself had chosen Americans to hold the great responsibility of controlling all of the land from the west coast of America to the east coast and it was the people's destiny to spread out in conquest. Along with this destiny came the divine mission to spread the democratic ideals of the nation to those who did not have it, to civilize and make free the people who held the land of America long before the pilgrims reached the shores of North America. Though pushed by an increase in technology and the market economy many defended that the ideals of Manifest Destiny had nothing to do with the desire for wealth at all, but that they only expanded westward because God had chosen them to. (Foote 478-479). In John L. O'sullivan's article The Greatest Good of the Greatest Number he defends America's rights, writing "We feel safe under the banner of the democratic principle, which is borne onward by an unseen hand of providence, to lead our race toward the high destinies of which every human soul contains the
God-implanted germ; and the advent of which-certain, however distant-a dim prophetic presentiment has existed, in one form or another, among all nations in all ages." (O'sullivan, Greatest 339) The belief that it was America's right to take control of their new land was used to justify many actions to come, including the annexation of Texas. The so called banner of the democratic principle was to be pulled over the vast expanses land now open to exploration, smothering the cultures that came before, the hand of providence choking them out one by one. (O’Sullivan, Greatest 337)
Many Americans packed few belongings and headed west during the middle to the late nineteenth century. It was during this time period that the idea of manifest destiny became rooted in American customs and ideals. Manifest Destiny is the idea that supported and justified expansionist policies, it declared that expansion was both necessary and right. America’s expansionist attitudes were prominent during the debate over the territorial rights of the Oregon territory. America wanted to claim the Oregon territory as its own, but Great Britain would not allow that. Eventually the two nations came to an agreement and a compromise was reached, as seen in document B. The first major party of settlers that traveled to the west settled in Oregon.
Manifest Destiny: Ugly Truth Behind Pretty Lies? The point of view upon Manifest Destiny that I found most convincing and close to my own interpretation was “Manifest Destiny as an expression of white superiority is but one explanation for what became a clear rise of anti-Mexican sentiments in the 1850s”. This perspective to me seemed to be the only one that did not skirt around what seemed to be the logical truth and explanations for why Manifest Destiny took place: for the pursuit of Native American lands; anti-Mexican sentiments; for the prospects they were able to gain from western lands; and for political reasons. While a lot of other perspectives saw Manifest Destiny in the light of goodness and or because of religious reasons, I believe there was a bitter and more realistic truth; The interpretation of Manifest Destiny I see as the most obvious is that Manifest Destiny was a cover for many of people’s greed for the future prospects they were able to gain from those western lands.
America’s Manifest Destiny first surfaced around the 1840’s, when John O’Sullivan first titled the ideals that America had recently gained on claiming the West as their ‘Manifest Destiny.’ Americans wanted to settle in the West for multiple reasons, from the idea that God wanted them to settle all the way to the West co...
Manifest Destiny, defined by the letter written by John O'Sullivan in 1839, is "for this blessed mission to the nations of the world, which are shut out from the life-giving light of truth, has America been chosen; and her high example... where myriads now endure an existence scarcely more enviable than that of the beasts of the field". In this also shared what I believe is his view on the purpose of western expansion. He discusses the " beasts of the field", meaning the animals the Native Americans follow, are slightly less enviable than a large number of the people already residing in America. Therefore, the mission of the United States is to spread their ways and the word of God to those who live a "savage" lifestyle.
Through Manifest Destiny, the U.S. conquered many new territories. Ever since the U.S. became its own country, they always wanted more land. They thought that the Manifest Destiny gave them the right to expand and conquer more land. The United States were offered a deal known as the Louisiana Purchase which doubled their size. Even after they received this land, they were thirsty for more. They wanted to have Texas as their own. After Texas got their independence from Mexico, President Polk annexed it. Polk had his eye set on California next. But before he could get California, he had to deal with border dispute in Texas, leading to the war with Mexico. So, did the United States have a good reason to go to war with Mexico? The answer is simple, the U.S. was not justified into going to war with Mexico. This is proven through the Manifest Destiny, border disputes, and an American viewpoint on the war.
In Frederick Jackson Turner’s essay, he talked about how he thought the West was where true American character was formed and that the West was the birthplace of democracy. However, in my perspective I don’t only feel that Turner was inaccurate in his analysis, but also very racist and selfish. I believe that Turner wanted to justify why taking over the West would be so necessary and beneficial to Americans. He stated several things in his essay that were obviously undermined by many primary sources in Hollitz’s book. At the time Americans took on the ideology of Manifest Destiny, which basically was the belief that Americans were destined to expand from coast to coast in North America despite the fact that there was people already occupying land on
...n knowledge. Besides legal title, Sullivan argued, even more strongly, that God had presented Oregon to the United States to aid in expansion and the spread of a Christian world. With this argument presented in public form, Americans began accepting the phrase of Manifest Destiny as a link between them, God, and expansion westward.
In the 1830’s America was highly influenced by the Manifest Destiny Ideal. Manifest Destiny was the motivating force behind the rapid expansion of America into the West. This ideal was highly sponsored by posters, newspapers, and various other methods of communication. Propaganda was and is still an incredibly common way to spread an idea to the masses. Though Manifest Destiny was not an official government policy, it led to the passing of the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act gave applicants freehold titles of undeveloped land outside of the original thirteen colonies. It encouraged Westward colonization and territorial acquisition. The Homestead Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. To America, Manifest Destiny was the idea that America was destined to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic, to the Pacific Ocean. Throughout this time Native Americans were seen as obstacles because they occupied land that the United States needed to conquer to continue with their Manifest Destiny Ideal. Many wars were fought between the A...
In the early 1840s John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, inaugurated the expression Manifest Destiny to depict American expansionism. O’Sullivan described the nation’s extension as inevitable and criticized those that delayed that progression "for the avowed object of thwarting our policy, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." "(Horsman 219) Horsman notes that even though O’Sullivan laid claim to the phrase manifest destiny, the idea was embedded in Anglo-Saxon heritage. In chapter one of Horsman the concept of a chosen people on a westward mission derived when the English traced their roots to an Anglo-Saxon people who in the fifth century is introduced, along with the fact that other Germanic tribes, invaded England (Horsman 11).... ...
Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was the United States’ destiny to take over all of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Most of the public was in favor of territorial expansion, though some politicians felt it contradicted the constitution.
John L. O’Sullivan, an editor, coined the term “Manifest Destiny” and gave the expansionist movement its name in 1845. The “Manifest Destiny” was the belief that Americans had the divine right to occupy North America. The Americans believed they were culturally and racially superior over other nations and other races such as the Native American Indians and Mexicans. The notion of the ‘Manifest Destiny’ was that the Americans were morally superior and therefore morally obligated to try to spread enlighten and civilization to the less civilized societies. According to World History Group, “The closest America came to making ‘Manifest Destiny’ an official policy was The Monroe Doctrine, adopted in 1823, it put European nations on notice that the U.S. would defend other nations of the Western Hemisphere from further colonization” (World History, 2015). This divine American mission caused Anglo-Saxon Americans to believe they had the natural right to move west and bring blessings of self-government and religion, more specifically-
Americans throughout history have always felt that they were superior. The concept of “Manifest Destiny” has been the fuel to the fire of superiority. Manifest Destiny is the belief that it is American’s are the chosen ones and have the obvious right to conquer and own land between the eastern and western seaboards and that such expansion was inevitable. Manifest Destiny along with Christianity were two reasons that drove and encouraged both expansion within North Amer...
The Manifest Destiny was a progressive movement starting in the 1840's. John O'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named the movement in 1845. Manifest Destiny meant that westward expansion was America's destiny. The land that was added to the U.S. after 1840 (the start of Manifest Destiny) includes The Texas Annexation (1845), The Oregon Country (1846), The Mexican Cession (1848), The Gadsden Purchase (1853), Alaska (1867), and Hawaii (1898). Although this movement would take several years to complete, things started changing before we knew it.
One of the largest and most wealthy countries in the world, the United States of America, has gone through many changes in its long history. From winning its independence from Great Britain to present day, America has changed dramatically and continues to change. A term first coined in the 1840s, "Manifest Destiny" helped push America into the next century and make the country part of what it is today. The ideas behind Manifest Destiny played an important role in the development of the United States by allowing the territorial expansion of the 1800s. Without the expansion of the era, America would not have most of the western part of the country it does now.
In the early 1840s John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, spoke of the term Manifest Destiny to describe American expansion. O’Sullivan described the nation’s expansion as inevitable and criticized those that imposed on that process "for the avowed object of thwarting our